Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) Given Consensus Rating of “Reduce” by Brokerages

Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the four research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $22.75.

Several equities analysts have weighed in on FLO shares. BNP Paribas began coverage on Flowers Foods in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $20.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com raised shares of Flowers Foods from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th.

Institutional Trading of Flowers Foods

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 2.0% in the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 23,779 shares of the company’s stock worth $528,000 after acquiring an additional 466 shares during the last quarter. Taylor Frigon Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Taylor Frigon Capital Management LLC now owns 52,279 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,242,000 after purchasing an additional 474 shares during the last quarter. Argyle Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Flowers Foods by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Argyle Capital Management Inc. now owns 66,018 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,568,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its stake in Flowers Foods by 80.3% in the 1st quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,208 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 538 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its position in Flowers Foods by 2.9% in the second quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 21,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $482,000 after buying an additional 603 shares in the last quarter. 75.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Flowers Foods Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of FLO stock opened at $23.17 on Wednesday. Flowers Foods has a 1 year low of $19.64 and a 1 year high of $26.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.27, a PEG ratio of 4.36 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $22.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $23.12.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 16th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.24 billion. Flowers Foods had a net margin of 2.51% and a return on equity of 18.97%. The company’s revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.33 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Flowers Foods will post 1.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Flowers Foods Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.14%. Flowers Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 162.71%.

Flowers Foods Company Profile

Flowers Foods, Inc produces and markets packaged bakery food products in the United States. Its principal products include fresh breads, buns, rolls, snack items, bagels, English muffins, and tortillas, as well as frozen breads and rolls under the Nature's Own, Dave's Killer Bread, Wonder, Canyon Bakehouse, Mrs.